The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has recently updated its Position Statement on Vaccination of Dogs and Cats which is published on its website at http://apvma.gov.au/use_safely/vaccination.php

The Position Statement, together with associated links, provides useful information for veterinary surgeons on the issue of re-vaccination intervals.

The Board has issued a policy statement for microchipping by approved veterinary nurses. The statement is available on the Veterinary Surgeons page of this website.

The guidelines provide details of the process and criteria applied by the Board when considering an application for authorisation. They are available on the Authorised Persons page of this website.

These guidelines aim to assist veterinary surgeons who are conducting a mobile practice to ensure that they comply with the Act and Regulations. The guidelines are available on the Veterinary Surgeons page of this website.

On 16 March 2010 amendments to the Animal Welfare (General) Regulations 2003 were gazetted amending the conditions under which a registered veterinary surgeon may legally perform tail docking in dogs.

Regulation 14 (3) now reads:

A registered veterinary surgeon shall not carry out tail docking of a dog except where the tail docking is clinically indicated for the purpose of curing or alleviating a disease or injury from which the dog suffers.

Veterinary surgeons are no longer permitted to perform tail docking in dogs for prophylactic reasons. Veterinary surgeons who continue to carry out tail docking in dogs for prophylactic reasons will be liable to prosecution by both the RSPCA and the Board.

For a copy of the gazetted change click the following link.

Link to Government Gazette

The Board’s latest newsletter is now available on this website under publications. If you would like a hard copy sent to you please contact the Board office.

Highlights include results of the Board election, guidelines for the authorisation of persons to perform veterinary dentistry out for comment, what the Board has been up to, premise inspections by the Board and microchipping by veterinary nurses.

The Board’s office will be closed from 4pm Thursday 24 December 2009 and will reopen at 8.30am Monday 4 January 2010.

The Board’s office will be closed from 4pm Thursday 24 December 2009, and will reopen at 8.30am Monday 4 January 2010.

By now you will have received your renewal fee notices for your registration for 2010. An increase in the fees to be charged in 2010 was recently approved by the Minister for Agriculture and Food. The fee increases are in line with the consumer price index which was in the order of 5% for 2008. The last fee increase was in 2006.

The application forms on this website are current to 31 December 2009 - they will be replaced with updated forms with the 2010 fees in the new year.

For details or any queries regarding the new fees, please contact the Board office.

The Veterinary Surgeons’ Board has revised the guidelines for the authorisation of a lay person to carry out certain acts of equine dentistry in Western Australia under the direction of a registered veterinary surgeon.

The Board is inviting comment from veterinary surgeons, authorised persons and other interested parties until 31 January 2010. No comments will be considered after this date. A copy of the draft guidelines is below.

Guidelines for equine dentistry - draft for comment

The Board has released a new policy for veterinary nurses undertaking microchipping procedures in animals.

Under the policy registered veterinary nurses can undertake microchipping procedures on animals under the personal supervision of a registered veterinary surgeon.

The veterinary surgeon providing personal supervision of the veterinary nurse must certify the number on the microchip and sign the microchipping verification certificate and supporting documentation.

For more information, see the policy below.

The Board regularly receives enquiries from veterinary surgeons regarding these two issues. The following information is provided for clarification.

Packaging of drugs
The Poisons Regulations 1965 specify which containers are permitted as containers for scheduled drugs (see Regulation 19AA below). Veterinary surgeons should also take note of drug manufacturers’ recommendations such as the use of opaque containers when dispensing scheduled drugs. In addition, animal owners should be informed of the proper storage of scheduled drugs dispensed to them.

Regulation 19AA.  Certain containers prohibited
(1)  An immediate container on which the name of any poison is embossed or otherwise permanently marked shall not be used except to contain that poison.
(2)  A paper or plastic bag or envelope, or a cardboard box shall not be used as a container for a Schedule 2, 3, 4, 8 or 9 poison whether dispensed or not, unless the poison is also presented to the purchaser in foil or in individually sealed, measured amounts, commonly described as strip packaging, or unless the container is approved by the CEO.
(3)  A paper bag shall not be used as the sole container of any poison unless it has been approved by the CEO.

Poisons permits
Many veterinary surgeons are not aware that if there is more than one veterinary surgeon working in a practice then a Poisons Permit is required.
•If you have another vet or vets in your practice using the practice’s drugs, you need a Poisons Permit.
•No drugs can be stored in any facility that is either not registered as a veterinary premise or licensed under the Poisons Act 1964.  If drugs are being delivered or stored in any non Board registered facility, you need a Poisons license, otherwise that storage is illegal.
For more information contact the Department of Health on 9222 4222.

Voting for the election of the new Board closed at noon on 23 September 2009. Votes were received from 402 veterinary surgeons for the two elected members of the Board for the term 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2012.

The Registrar has declared the two candidates who obtained the highest number of votes, Dr David Marshall and Dr Rachel Stone, to be elected.

The votes were:

The Board will recommend to the Minister for Agriculture and Food that he recommend to the Governor that the two elected members be appointed to the Board for its next term of office.

The 2009 notifiable disease list is now available. All veterinary surgeons are reminded that you are obliged under the Stock Diseases (Regulations) Act 1968 and the Exotic Diseases Act 1993 to notify the Department of Agriculture and Food if you suspect an animal is infected by any disease specified under these Acts. The notifiable disease list can be found at http://www.agric.wa.gov.au (search on ‘notifiable’).

If veterinarians suspect a notifiable disease they must contact the Department of Agriculture and Food by telephoning the exotic diseases hotline on 1800 675 888, the duty pathologist on (08) 9368 3351 or the nearest District Veterinary Officer.

The Board’s latest newsletter is now available on this website under publications. If you would like a hard copy sent to you please contact the Board office.

Highlights include information about the Board election, requirements for completing vaccination certificates, statistics on veterinary surgeons in WA, ownership of radiographs, use of veterinary titles and an appeal from the RSPCA for livestock veterinary surgeons.

On 31 December 2009, the three year term for the present Veterinary Surgeons’ Board (Board) comes to an end.

The Board has the vital role of regulating the practice of veterinary surgery in Western Australia. Every veterinary surgeon registered in WA has the opportunity to vote and/or nominate for the two elected positions on the Board.

Last election only 50% of eligible veterinary surgeons voted and had their say about who they would like on the Board. Please take the time to fill in your voting slips when you receive them in September and exercise your right to vote.

Timetable for the election process

•July/August - the nomination form below needs to be filled in and returned to the Board by noon on 2 September 2009.

•2 September 2009 at 12 noon - all nominations must be in the receipt of the Registrar. No nominations will be accepted after that time. When returning a completed nomination form please include a brief CV, no more than a quarter of an A4 page, that can be sent out with the Ballot papers. Ballot papers will then be posted to all registered veterinary surgeons at their Board registered address.

•23 September 2009 at 12 noon - all ballots must be in the receipt of the Registrar; the counting of votes will commence at 1 pm on 23 September 2009.

Time commitment for Board members

Thinking of nominating for the Veterinary Surgeons’ Board?

For a summary of the time commitment for Board members see the document below. A substantially greater time commitment is required by the Chair of the Board.

Please ensure that if you agree to nominate for election to the Board, you are willing and able to fulfil the above time commitment. Reasonable expenses are covered by the Board and a modest remuneration given for each meeting attended.

Please contact the Board if you have any queries.

A veterinary education symposium with a focus on communication and life skills is being held in Brisbane on 7-9 July 2009.

“The Australasian Veterinary Education Symposium (AVES) is organised by veterinary staff from Universities of Queensland, Sydney and Murdoch and sponsored by a collaborative Grant from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.

Our goal is to enhance student learning experience and outcomes through developing a robust curriculum which includes communication and life skills.  We believe the development of these skills will assist veterinary graduates in achieving sustainable and successful careers.“

Further information can be obtained from the AVES Website

Your assistance is requested to fill in a short questionnaire to assist with research into occupational English testing.

At present the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council relies on companies such as the “Occupational English Test” and “International English Language Testing System” to assess the English proficiency of applicants for the National Veterinary Examination and applicants for skilled migration.  It is important that these tests remain relevant to our profession.

Could you please consider completing the questionnaire (link below)?

The questionnaire asks health professionals what type of reading they do for their profession and how often they read different texts. It should not take longer than 5 minutes or so to complete the questionnaire.

Link to Questionnaire

The Board has been notified of the following advice from Craig Stevenson, Technical Manager: Ruminants, Coopers Animal Health.

Ram sedation and the concurrent use of Eureka Gold

Increasingly at the request of shearers, most Merino and Meat Breed rams are being sedated prior to shearing with Acepromazine (products such as Acemav Injection, Acepril 10, ACP 10 injection).  Acepromazine is a Phenothiazine derivative and is known to potentiate the toxicity of Organophosphates.  This could have implications if Eureka Gold (containing diazinon) is used on the same day as sedation.  However, I would like to point out that we have not had any adverse events reported to us when Eureka Gold has been applied immediately after shearing rams that were sedated with Acepromazine.

Purely as a precaution, farmers should be advised not to treat their rams with Eureka Gold on the same day as sedation with Acepromazine.  If the farmer wants to use Eureka Gold on rams that have been sedated with Adepromazine prior to shearing, the advice should be to bring the rams back into the yards the following day after shearing (within 24 hours) for treatment with Eureka Gold.

It would be appreciated if you could let resellers and farmers know this recommendation when using Eureka Gold.  I will also seek to have this precaution added to the Eureka Gold label.

If you require any clarification on this recommendation, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0408 204 090.

Recently practices may have received a letter requesting the donation of veterinary supplies from the Yudisthira Bali Street Dog Foundation.  Veterinary supplies listed for donation included bottles of schedule 4 and schedule 8 drugs.

Veterinary surgeons are reminded that they are only permitted to dispense or prescribe scheduled drugs in accordance with the Veterinary Surgeons Act and Regulations. The Regulations require scheduled drugs to be prescribed or dispensed to bono fide clients only in quantities required for the specific condition that has been diagnosed by a veterinary surgeon for the animal concerned. There are provisions in the Act and Regulations for this to be varied in specific situations.

However, there is no provision under the Act or Regulations for donations of scheduled drugs to be made in this manner.

Contrary to earlier advice, all veterinary surgeons wishing to practise in Victoria from 1 January 2009, must register in Victoria to do so.

The Veterinary Practitioners Registration Board of Victoria has advised that the passage of the Primary Industries Legislation Amendment Bill 2008, which included amendment to the Veterinary Practice Act 1997 to allow national recognition of registration, has been delayed. The Board does not expect the Bill to be passed by the Victorian Parliament until the Autumn sitting in February or March.

Further information can be obtained from the Veterinary Practitioners Registration Board of Victoria

The Department of Health has received reports indicating that dog and cat flea treatments are being used by members of the public to treat children with head lice.

The active ingredient in the products of concern is Fipronil which is a phenylpyrazole insecticide.

Fipronil has been reported as causing eye irritation, skin reactions, nausea and nervous system effects in adults.

A fact sheet on Fipronil misuse has been produced by the Department of Health and can be found at Department of Health.

Please emphasise to your clients that products containing Fipronil should only be used on animals because of the potential health risk if they are used on human beings.

The Board has updated the guidelines for authorisation of lay persons to carry out pregnancy testing by rectal palpation to provide further clarification and guidance for directing veterinary surgeons and authorised lay persons.

A separate guideline concerning the authorisation of lay persons in general has also been compiled by the Board to provide general guidance and clarification regarding the responsibilities and requirements for directing veterinary surgeons and authorised lay persons.

The guidelines are on this website under the Authorised Persons section or a copy can be obtained from the Board on request.

The guidelines for authorisation of lay persons to carry out pregnancy testing by ultrasound using a rectal probe have also been updated and are now available on this website.

We have updated our publications section with our latest Newsletter.

click here to view the publications page

On Tuesday the Registrar’s cat found a warm sunny spot to enjoy the first rays of the sun.